


The Merger  - or - Betrayal at Eia Provo

by Kahvi



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 12:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kahvi/pseuds/Kahvi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just exactly what <i>was</i> it that drove a wedge between Han and Lando to the point where one would willingly turn the other over to the Empire?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Merger  - or - Betrayal at Eia Provo

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a gift for the lovely Roadstergal, who kindly allowed me to share it.

There are times I tell myself that it was all down to Chewie not being there at the time. They say Wookies can sniff people out; tell good intentions from bad just by being in the same room as the person harboring them, but, well, that's just talk, near as I can tell. Chewie wouldn't have stopped it from happening on account of that; Chewie would have stopped it happening because there are things a man just doesn't do in front of his friends. One of them being acting like a brain-blasted bantha in the mating season. Come to think of it; when you put it like that, I'm almost glad he wasn't there.

I had just finished up a job near Eia Franco, and was making my way to Eia Provo to meet up with what Lando described as an 'eager client'. I'm not sure what you'd call what I dabbled in those days, but it sure as gfersh would never have occurred to me to call any of the people who associated with me 'clients'. I'm not even sure I would have used the word 'associated.' That sort of vocabulary always came with Lando, who had boarded on Franco with such casual ease that you'd think the ship was still his. And going by the way I let him, just like that, maybe it still was.

So we shared a bed. That wasn't unusual. You spend a lot of time in space, you bunk up with your shipmates. That only made sense. What I'll admit didn't make a whole galaxy of sense was bunking up with your business partner. But Lando and I were more than that, or at least I thought so at the time. We were friends; buddies. And just so I'm not making myself out to be even more of an idiot than I admittedly was; it wasn't like Lando came out of nowhere, jumped into my bed and charmed me into trusting him – he'd proven himself time and again. We go way back. Stars; the first thing the man ever did was save my life! That's the mother and father of a great first impression, if you see what I mean. Sure, we had our fallings out. Lando didn't take much to the idea of me taking over the Falcon, but he forgot about that soon enough. I'd won it fair and square after all, and in the end, he much preferred a flashier ship anyway. He was just hanging on to the thing as a matter of pride (and, secretly, I think, because he knew how much I wanted it, and the bastard in him didn't want to give me the satisfaction). That Ylesia business was a bit tougher to shake off, I'll admit, but after I saved his ass during a heist or two on one of his casinos, that was all water under the bridge. No; what really pissed Lando off to the point where he'd willingly turn me over to the Empire was something else entirely.

The Franco job had left me with a fair share of riches, some of which I'd traded into various consumable luxuries on my way out. Lando and I shared of them equally, just like old times. We sat in my cramped quarters, drinking heavily from the same bottle and drunkenly feeding one another fruits and those blue-purple, sickly-sweet candies I don't think I'll ever outgrow, nor will I ever learn how to pronounce their name. Didn't take long before we both were naked, the sheets staining blue and sticking to our bodies where candy-coated fingers had left little trails. And frag it all if I didn't find myself having missed it a little too much. Maybe that's why, as we lay there, sticky and sated and giggly from the alcohol, I wrapped a drunken arm around Lando's shoulder, and asked him how long he was going to stay.

He looked at me, a hint of puzzlement shining through the intoxication. We never used to ask those sorts of questions before. "Long as I can," he said, as if expecting to be graded on it.

I didn't know what to say. I just closed my eyes and nodded, and drifted off into sleep. If I were a romantic, I guess I'd say I dreamed of him and me, running the routes together, spending our downtime in swank hotels and casinos, playing the odd scam, just for kicks. But I'm not, and I can't say that I did. But in the brief moments before falling asleep, that's what I thought about. Him and me. Seemed too good to be true. Now that I'm wiser, and by implication, older, I know exactly what that means.

The next morning, I found Lando already dressed and seated in the cockpit. If I'd caught anyone else doing that, I'd have thrown them out of the ship on their asses, atmosphere or no. This was Lando, though, and that made a difference. For one thing, I taught the guy everything he knows about flying, and he knew the ship better than I did. He was getting comfortable. Nothing wrong with that, right? It was only when I saw he was wearing my clothes that I started asking questions, the first of which being "what the frack is going on here?"

Lando just looked at me calmly, and told me he got dressed in the first things he could find. I called bantha-poodoo, and tons of it.

"You wouldn't be seen dead in anything I wear, and you know it. If there were my clothes and buck naked to choose from, you'd go for buck naked every time. So what's the deal? You wanna let me in on it?"

Lando shrugged, and rubbed his arm as though the cut of the fabric offended him. He didn't used to be like that, though he always did like the finer things in life. I guess he just didn't like the idea of falling down a rung or ten on the ladder of general success in life. "It's like this, Han," he said, watching the view rather than my face, "you know that client I told you about?"

I jerked his chair around to face me. I didn't deserve this. I really didn't. "Frag it, Lando; are you setting me up? Is this some kind of payback for the Ylesia thing, because I thought we were done with that!"

Twisting the chair back in irritation, Lando shook his head. "It's nothing like that, Han. I just..." He frowned, still not looking at me, "wasn't sure you'd go along with it if I told you."

I laughed. What else could I do? "And just how in the galaxy is that not a set-up?"

"I was hoping you'd think it wasn't, when you heard..."

"Try me," I interrupted."

So he did.

Turns out there was no client. There was a girl. I laughed again when he said that, which I suppose got to him, because he started listing all her qualities, chief among which was the fact that she owned an entire solar system, and was working on acquiring more. It was, as always, about money. The girl – Synva - had met Lando briefly back in his smuggling days, when he still ran in the Falcon, and had fallen for his bad boy image. She was offering marriage, but now that the bad boy image was fading away into semi-legitimacy, he wasn't as alluring to her anymore. The plan was to rendezvous with her on Eia Provo, show off the Falcon, make like he was still in the smuggling business, and hope to seal the deal.

"Marriage is a big deal for these people. Her people, I mean."

"Religion?" I was trying to act casual, but something about this was rubbing me the wrong way, and I couldn't quite put my finger on what.

"Nah. Business. Business is their religion, you could say. There's a reason why the Verbre family is one richest in the galaxy. They have this code of conduct that bans anything that isn't 'productive'. They don't even allow sex before marriage, and even then, only for procreation purposes."

Verbre. Of course. Synva Verbre, one of the youngest leaders of a merchant empire the galaxy had ever seen. No wonder Lando wanted to see this one through. "Nice. What do they do for fun?"

Lando grinned. "Nothing! The idea is, you're supposed to find fulfillment through work. If you don't..." He shrugged. "That's your problem. It's all about following the rules."

I raised an eyebrow. "No wonder she fell for you, then."

We laughed, slapping backs and throwing playful punches, but it didn't go beyond that, this time. Something had changed. Despite myself, I started looking forward to our arrival on Provo, and the prospect of having someone else to talk to.

 

 

Of course, having someone else to talk to would have involved actually being introduced to other people, and not just being dragged along with a few helpful 'he's with me's', and a handful of reassuring gestures. Turns out what the Verbres did for fun was pretend it was work. Immediately upon arrival, Lando and I were shanghaied into a dizzying sequence of parties, receptions and dinners, all of which were assuredly terribly business-like and professional. All I can say is, if that's how they conducted business, it's probably a good thing they were never off the clock. I don't particularly want to know what they'd be capable off if they really let their hair down. They were serious though; once I got over the initial culture shock (you learn to shake that off pretty quickly in my line of work) and started overhearing conversations, they were all about mergers and deals and office politics, even the intimate ones. I never once saw anyone as much as hold hands, though. I guessed Lando must have been right about the 'no sex for pleasure' thing.

What with everything, it took almost three days before I met Synva. I only knew it was three days because of how many nights we'd slept, though I'll admit that wasn't a terribly accurate measure. These parties seemed to be running non-stop, and always at guest houses with beds conveniently available to people whenever they were ready to collapse. I personally had collapsed twice, though I couldn't vouch for Lando. I'd taken it as a good sign; that maybe this Synva was willing to bend the rules a little for him. Shows how much I knew.

Seeing the two of them cross the room though, she and Lando seemed happy enough. In fact, they were both grinning like Hutts with a fresh tray of snacks. They reached my little corner table – I always ended up at a corner table, like the party was embarrassed to have me in it – and almost looked like they were going to pass right by it when Lando caught my eye. "Hey," he pulled on Synva's significant sleeve, dragging her back from the direction she was headed. "How are they taking care of you? You all right?"

"I'm fine," I replied, watching Synva watch me right back. She seemed to be evaluating me, like Lando was selling me, and she was trying to make out if I was worth the price.

"Good. That's good. I'm sorry I haven't been able to check up on you, but things have been kind of crazy."

"Well, you're not my mother." Synva and I were still locking eyes. Finally, she turned to Lando, not me, and did this little thing with her eyes and nose (which was cute and button-like), giving some kind of irritated signal.

"Lando," she said, her voice surprisingly deep for such a small, elfin woman, "who is your friend?"

Watching her little face twitch, Lando swallowed, glancing quickly back at me. "No one," he said, looking appropriately embarrassed. All of a sudden, he couldn't get away from my table fast enough.

Well. That was odd, I thought, and not a little rude, though I'm not an easily offended man. I didn't have time to brood over it however, because that cute little waitress I'd seen earlier had come by again to refill my drink.

 

Five or six visits from that young lady later, and the room had started to wobble precariously, like the port-side pistons on the Falcon on a bad day. I was getting pretty close to forgetting who I was, let alone where I was and why, when felt a hand at my elbow. I turned my head groggily, and nearly bumped into Lando, who was leaning in close and pulling on my arm. Given the fact that the waitress had done her best to ignore my attempts at seduction all night while still waving her tits in my face, having Lando suddenly so close brought certain ideas to my drunken mind. Not to mention other parts of my body. And there was the way his eyes were shifting too, darting back and forth between myself and the nearest doorway. Well, I could take a hint. I stumbled to my feet and let him lead me away.

The guest house was all one floor, perhaps to impress upon their affluent guests that real estate was not a problem. The bedrooms were in a section not far from the main banquet hall, presumably for the benefit of guests who preferred to drink themselves to sleep. Lando led – or rather pulled – me through the sliding doors separating the two areas, and all of a sudden we were in a cool, dark hallway. The noise of the party was muffled and seemed far away in here, though still just a few feet behind us. Lando gave me a look, and I nearly made my move then and there, wanting to press him up against that solid stone surface, feel that warm, firm body against my own. I tend to get like that when I'm far too drunk; too randy for my own good. Lando, however, surprised me by grabbing my collar, and hissing in my ear, "We need to get to your bedroom. Now."

Licking my lips, I nodded in assent. Looks like little Miss Synva hadn't delivered the goods. Well, I was more than willing to step in. I'd have Lando over that scrawny waitress any day, even if she hadn't turned me down. When Lando didn't move, I realized he didn't know where my quarters were, so I just turned on my heel and started walking, trusting him to follow. The corridors all looked the same, but the doors were color-coded, and even in my drunken state I was able to find it really quickly. Clearly, these people knew their stuff. I felt Lando's breath on my neck as I turned the key in the lock, and when I finally got the door open, I turned to grab him as he entered with me, mashing lips against lips. I didn't get that I'd horribly misread the situation before I tasted blood, and felt Lando pull away. He had bitten my lip, the bastard!

"Han; you over-sexed, self-centered..."

I drew the back of my hand across my mouth, glaring at him. "You couldn't have said anything?"

"Not with your tongue in my mouth, no."

"My tongue was nowhere near your mouth, thank the stars, or you would have bitten it clean off, you crazy bastard. What's wrong with you?"

For a moment, Lando seemed about to give a snappish reply, but he evidently thought better of it, and stumbled over to the bed, sitting down heavily. "We need to talk," he said, flatly.

"You think?"

Lando shook his head. "Synva... it's more complicated than I thought. That whole no-sex-before-marriage thing?"

"I'm listening..."

"And the sex-just-for-procreation thing?"

I sighed. "Come on, out with it, whatever it is. What; you need to go through some kind of weird ritual? You're chickening out, is that it? Hey, it's not too late, buddy. We can get out right now; I'll be it's still dark outside, it's not morning yet…"

"Han," Lando grabbed my arm, "you're not listening."

"I just said I was," I mumbled, looking at his hand where it gripped me. It was not a good idea for him to be touching me right now. I decided to sit down next to him, pulling my arm away before the alcohol and the blood rush to my groin got the better of me.

"No; look. They're _dead serious_ about this stuff. Anything non-productive," he waved his hand drunkenly; seems I wasn't the only one who'd had a few, "they come down on it, hard. And non-procreative sex is the worst of it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Death penalty?"

"Worse." Lando winced. "Fines."

"Ouch."

"Hefty fines. And, well, you see…" He looked down at me, and right there and then, though I still had no idea what he was talking about, I knew he was going to screw me over. Never has a man looked more guilty than Lando Calrisian at that moment. "When someone who can't actually procreate naturally through sex at all is still having it, that's the worst crime of all."

I cleared my throat. "Just what are you trying to say?"

"People who can't cross-breed because of racial genetics. Or women with women. Or…" it wasn't much of a pause, but it was enough of one. "Men. With men."

I couldn't help it; I laughed. "They don't approve of men having sex with men? Come on; that has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Not even this crazy culture could be that fracked up."

"It's the truth." I knew it was. I could tell by the way Lando was squirming. He didn't like it one bit more than I did. Still… I knew he was planning on screwing me over. So what was the deal?

"So what? So you can't get off with guys for a few years; what? You can't handle that?"

Lando snapped to attention. "You don't seem to realize the gravity of this situation," he snarled, glaring at me. "This is their greatest taboo; the only thing they right-out shun people for! If they find out that you and I…" He swallowed, looking around nervously. Worried about security cameras, perhaps? He thought too little of me; I'd had those taken care of the moment I set foot in the room. Old habits die hard.

"What?" I asked, resisting the urge to smirk.

Lando sighed, turning towards me. Face to face, he just looked scared. Scared, and not a little pathetic. Oh, yeah, and hot. I'm flesh and blood, what do you want from me? "I don't want to do this."

I met his eyes steadily. "So don't."

"It's just, you know, the connections she has... it's not just about the money."

"Right."

"We're moving the ceremony to mid-day tomorrow; you'll need to be out of here before then. I've arranged for a shuttle to pick you up whenever you want in the morning. It'll be standing by. Just notify the landing-bay…"

I waved my hand, and he flinched, like I was going to slap him. He should know that wasn't my style. It's fists or nothing for me. "Wait, wait… what shuttle? Why would I need a shuttle?"

Lando still looked me in the eye. I'll give him that. "About that. I'm going to have to buy it back from you."

"Buy it back." No question what 'it' was. I really wished that had been a joke, but Lando's eyes were still dead serious.

"Synva already gave me access to her accounts. I'll have my own after the wedding, of course."

I tried to stare him down, and finally, he gave, blinking, then looking away. I watched his flustered face, sighing. Why did it have to come to this? After all we'd been through? "Look, Lando…" He glanced back at me. "Let's not do this. OK I mean, I get it. The money's good. I'll get out of your hair, make myself scarce. I don't mind doing that for you." I'm a good liar when I need to be, besides, there was some truth to it. "But the Falcon?" Pleading. The man had me pleading. I wasn't proud of myself at that moment.

Lando just shook his head. "Synva wants it," was all he said. I could tell he'd made his mind up. I always could.

"OK," I said, finally. "OK."

Nodding, Lando moved to get up, but I caught him by the sleeve, pulling him back down.

"Hey," I said, when he looked at me, confused, "one more for the road, eh?"

He must have been drinking, true enough, because he was on me almost before I could finish the sentence. And when he bit my lip this time, I didn't protest.

 

I woke up with my feet tangled in expensive sheets, and the smell of alcohol and treachery still on me. Groaning, I reached for the bed-side alarm, swearing quietly when I realized I'd forgotten to set it. These beds were too fragging comfortable; it was a blessing I'd woken up at all.

I found my clothes where they'd fallen on the bed and floor, not bothering to do up my boots properly. I wanted to get out of there so fast I nearly forgot to switch the chip in the security cameras, but thankfully I remembered just in time. The auto-locks on these rooms wouldn't let you back in when your time was up, and I knew I wasn't welcome anymore at this establishment. Hurriedly easing in the chip I'd removed last night, and slipping the one from the camera into my pocket, I was out the door, mixing with the crowds hurrying towards the wedding ceremony.

It was almost mid-day. Thank the stars I hadn't slept much longer, or I would have had to run, and that would have seemed out of place. I already looked conspicuous enough in my ruffled clothes and unkept hair, trying to make like I belonged in the crowd of over-dressed business people. Seems we were headed outside. Well, that suited my purpose fine. When I got as far as the gate, and saw where the ceremony was supposed to be, I near as laughed. There, out on the landing field stood the Falcon, all shiny like they'd had her polished, which I'm sure they had. In front of it stood Lando and Synva, dressed up like… well, like they were ready to merge their assets. A protocol droid was making its way towards them, and the music was welling up. Looked like I was just in time. Now all I needed was one thing, and I spotted that right on que.

"Excuse me," I told a suave looking woman in pink, "may I borrow that?" Not bothering to wait for a reply, I took the neat silver box she was holding out of her hands, and hurried off. She seemed too shocked to react, and anyway, the protocol-droid had began to broadcast its voice.

"Dear associates," its amplified voice boomed, "co-workers, colleagues, business partners. We are gathered here today to witness the union and merger of two individuals into one financial entity. Synva Verbre and Lando Calrissian will from today onwards and forever more be known as Verbre-Calrissian, assuming the following clauses are upheld.."

Which was as far as he got before I tossed him the holo-projector, and gave him a thumbs up. The look on Lando's face was entirely blank, and I wished I could have stuck around to see it changing, but I had things to do, and places to be. "Little wedding present," I grinned, nodding to the droid. "Activate it!"

Somewhat flustered, and against Lando's timid protests, the droid pushed the button. It was used to taking orders from humans, and Lando, despite the fact that he clearly knew what was going to happen, just wasn't being forceful enough to counteract my clear command. Near as instantly, the pale blue figures of me and Lando in bed last night were projected in glorious tri-dee, best quality money could buy definition, right between Synva and Lando on the podium. And, well, that's when I wish I could have seen Lando's face, but from where I was sitting in the Falcon's bridge, he was just too far away.

I did see the reaction to my taking off, though. People, droits and pets - just how were pets profitable? No matter - scattered like stampeeding blurrgs, screaming, beeping and squelching as they went, some of them running straight through the still playing image of Lando and me, cavorting on expensive Verbre-bought sheets. Synva stood fast, her dress flying up around her like the wings of some fierce creature, gesticulating wildly to her, at this point no doubt _former_ fiance, who just stood there like a statue, his face, near as I could tell, facing upwards.

Oh, to have seen that face.

That's the last I saw of Lando for many years. People ask me what made him do something like the stunt he pulled in Cloud City, and I just shake my head and mutter something about payback for old times. But you know, time and again, I see Chewie looking at me out of the corner of his eye, and you know what? I think they just may be right about Wookies. That hairy bastard knows _something_.


End file.
